New Yorker gives Houston advice

More than a decade ago, he helped the Buffalo Bayou Partnership develop plans for the city’s waterways. He also comes here every few years and is always astonished by the growth, he said Friday as the keynote speaker for Central Houston’s annual meeting.

“No other city in America has this can-do spirit,” he told an audience of local business leaders at the Hilton Americas downtown.

Yaro was asked to share some of the lessons he learned from his planning work on the east coast. He boiled it down to a few things:

Expand the downtown core: The center of the city should include Uptown, the Texas Medical Center, Greenway Plaza and all the places in between.

Attract talent: Millennials, in particular, are the the next generation of entrepreneurs. They like vibrant areas.

Have a game plan: Like all good businesses, cities must have a plan for growth.

Transit is key: An expanded rail system will support density and vice versa.

All these factors, he said, “are going to be the key to Houston’s future. “We need to redefine the city as the greenest, cleanest and most successful city.”